Abdullah Azzam Brigades

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades ( ar, كتائب عبد الله عزام), or al-Qaeda in Lebanon, is a Sunni Islamist militant group, and al-Qaeda's branch in Lebanon. The group, which began operating in 2009, was founded by Saudi Saleh Al-Qaraawi and has networks in various countries, mainly in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

It is named after the late Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, a Palestinian from Jordan and a well-known preacher and organizer who was among the first Arabs to volunteer to join the Afghan jihad against the forces of the then-Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s.Unknown group claims Peshawar hotel bombing
The News International, 11 June 2009 Some other nonrelated terrorist organizations have been known to use the name "Abdullah Azzam Brigades" as a "name of convenience" for their operations.

After grave injuries Al-Qaraawi received as a result of a drone attack in Pakistan, and his eventual capture upon his return to Saudi Arabia by Saudi authorities, the leadership of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades was assumed by Majid al-Majid, a Saudi affiliated with Fatah al-Islam and al-Qaeda. Al-Majid was declared the leader and emir of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in June 2012, until his capture by Lebanese authorities on December 27, 2013 and eventual death from kidney failure on January 4, 2014. Al-Majid was succeeded by Sirajuddin Zureiqat.

History

The Abdallah Azzam Brigades was formed by the Saudi national Saleh Al-Qaraawi in 2009 as an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and was tasked with hitting targets in the Levant and throughout the Middle East. Qaraawi is a Saudi citizen and is on the list of 85 most-wanted terrorists that was issued by the Saudi Interior Ministry in 2009. The group formally announced its establishment in a July 2009 video statement claiming responsibility for a February 2009 rocket attack against Israel.

After attacks by the Ziad al Jarrah Battalion, a Lebanese affiliate of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a communique was released clarifying that the Brigades operated on a wider scale. The communique said: " he Abdullah Azzam Brigadesare not confined to Lebanon but there are targets that our fires will reach Allah‐willing in the near future...the Brigades are formed of a number of groups that are spread in numerous places...and the groups of 'Ziad al‐Jarrah' in Lebanon are only some of our groups, and we rushed to create these groups and announced them because of the urgency of the battle with the Jews and the priority of the initiative at the time and the place, but the rest of the groups are outside Lebanon."

In an interview to Al-Jazeera in August 2010, a Yemeni expert on Islamic movements asserted that although violent acts had been claimed by groups using Abdullah Azzam in their name, it was only in 2009 after the Gaza War that the Abdullah Azzam Brigades organization was established.

Branches

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades has branches active in multiple countries:
* The Lebanese branch has used the name the Ziad al Jarrah Battalion, and is named after Lebanese 9/11 hijacker Ziad al Jarrah who participated in the hijacking and crash of United Flight 93.
* The Abdullah Azzam Brigades branch in the Arabian Peninsula calls itself the Yusuf al-’Uyayri Battalions, named after Yusef al-Ayeri, the slain founder of Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia.
* In Gaza strip, the group had used the name Marwan Haddad division of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in the Levant. On 10 April 2011, a Gazan group claimed responsibility for firing a Grad missile at the Israeli city of Ashkelon and two other projectiles at the Zikim military base. The group said in a statement that "operations would continue until the Palestinian land is liberated and Tawhid flag is raised."

Aliases

The group has used a number of aliases including:
* Martyr Abdullah Azzam Brigades / Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigades / Kataeb Shuhada' Abdullah Azzam
* Al-Qaeda in Lebanon
* Abdullah Azzam Brigades of the Land of Al-Sham
* Al-Qaeda in the Levant / Al-Qaeda in the Levant and Egypt / Al-Qaida in Syria and Egypt
* Al-Qa'idah organization – The Land of Al-Sham and Al-Kinanah / Tanzim al-Qaida fi Bilad ash-Sham wa Ard al-Kinanah
* The Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahidin

Name of convenience

The name has been used by other non-related organizations as a name of convenience in a number of operations and in various countries.

Egypt

Even prior to the actual formation of the organization in 2009, a group calling itself Abdullah Azzam Brigades carried out devastating attacks in 2004 in the Sinai bombings and in 2005 in Sharm el-Sheikh bombings.
* On 7 October 2004, the Sinai Peninsula Egyptian resort of Taba was subject of three terrorist attacks targeting a hotel and two tourist campsites. The Hilton Taba bombing killed 31 people and wounded some 159 others. Ten floors of the hotel collapsed following the blast. Two campsites used by Israelis at Ras al-Shitan, near Nuweiba were also attacked killing two Israelis and an Egyptian. Twelve others were wounded. The bombings were claimed by an unknown group called Abdullah Azzam Brigades. According to Egyptian authorities, this was a cover to the mastermind behind the bombings, the Palestinian Iyad Saleh. He and one of his aides, Suleiman Ahmed Saleh Flayfil died in the Hilton blast, apparently because their bomb timer had run out too fast. Three Egyptians, Younes Mohammed Mahmoud, Osama al-Nakhlawi, and Mohammed Jaez Sabbah were sentenced to death in November 2006 for their roles in the blast. According to investigators, there was no strong link to Al Qaeda in the blasts.
* On 23 July 2005, the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh was subject to a series of bombings killing 88 people, the majority of them Egyptians, and over 200 wounded, making it the deadliest terrorist action in Egypt's modern history. A group calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Brigades was the first to claim responsibility for the attacks. On a website, the group stated that "holy warriors targeted the Ghazala Gardens hotel and the Old Market in Sharm el-Sheikh" and claimed it has ties to Al-Qaeda. The Egyptian government said that the bombers were actually Bedouin militants from the same group that carried out the Taba bombings a year earlier. Arrested suspects claimed to have been motivated by the War in Iraq.

Jordan

In 2005, again much earlier than the official formation of the organization, its name appeared in relation to a series of rocket attacks from Jordan. Several Katyusha rockets were fired from within the Jordanian territory, some hitting near the Eilat Airport and two others hitting very close to two United States Navy ships docked in Aqaba, the , and the . A group linked with al-Qaeda claimed to have made that attack."Two rockets land in Eilat area,"
04/22/2010, ''Jerusalem Post''."Scores arrested in connection with Aqaba rocket attack,"
Al Bawaba News, August 22, 2005. One of the rockets hit a Jordanian military hospital, killing a Jordanian soldier."Iraqi arrested in Jordan over rocket attack on US warship,"
(AFP), 20 August 2005, ''Khaleej Times''. The attack is regarded as having been perpetrated by the al-Zarqawi branch of Al Qaeda.''Beyond al-Qaeda: Global Jihadist Movement'', Angel Rabasa, Rand Corporation, 2006, p. 145. A self-styled Abdullah Azzam Brigades also claimed responsibility."U.S. warns on travel to Jordan port city,"
Suleiman al-Khalidi, September 15, 2010, Reuters, MSNBC.

Pakistan

A little-known Pakistani militant group, Fedayeen al-Islam, affiliated with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the Pearl Continental hotel bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan. A spokesman for the group, Amir Muawiya, phoned media organizations claiming responsibility for the attack and promised more attacks were on the way. He further stated that the bombing was in retaliation for Pakistan army operations in Swat and Malakand division of the North West Frontier Province and the tribal areas of Darra Adam Khel and Orakzai Agency However, on 11 June 2009, a previously unknown group calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the attack was in response to attacks by Pakistani military forces on Taliban insurgents in the Swat Valley.

On 24 February 2012, this alleged group equipped with suicide bombers blew themselves up in an attack on a police station "C Division" in the heart of Peshawar. According to witnesses, total attackers were more than 10, armed with hand grenades and automatic weaponry with latest technology that had never been used before. Two Pakistani policemen were killed and six others injured. The Abdullah Azzam Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack. Spokesman Abu Zarar Said, speaking from an unknown location, said that the attack was a reaction to the killing of a top militant leader, Badar Mansoor, in a drone strike in Waziristan.

The Persian Gulf

There are also other operations claimed by the Brigades, but strong doubts whether they were actually involved. For example, on 3 August 2010, a man claimed to be a spokesman of the brigade made a video statement that the Brigades were involved in the attack on the Japanese oil tanker '' M. Star'' in the Strait of Hormuz in July 2010. But many analysts are skeptical about the claim that it was the Abdullah Azzam Brigades. A BBC
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